Module 1: Project Management Competencies and Selection

This discussion post delves into the crucial competencies required for effective project management. The author emphasizes the importance of strong communication skills, leadership qualities, and decisive decision-making abilities for project managers. The post also explores project selection methods, such as Benefit-Cost-Ratio (BCR) and Net Present Value (NPV), used to evaluate and justify projects, using the example of food waste management. The author then describes the project approval process, highlighting the need for pre-evaluation of costs and potential outcomes. The author agrees with the importance of project managers possessing technical, business, and leadership traits, and stresses the influence of globalization on project management. A case study of a failed project due to ineffective risk management and other issues is also included. This assignment is a contribution to Desklib, a platform that provides AI-based study tools for students.

Running Head: PROCESS OF MANAGEMENT AND METHODS OF SELECTION
Process of Management and Methods of Selection
Name of the Student
Name of the Organization
Author Note

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Question 1
The rapid increase in demand of project management professionals is evident across
various countries in different parts of the globe. The easiest way to effectively manage a project
is by employing a professional with adequate knowledge of the entire framework. Project
management can be defined as a set of certain tools and processes which are used in a series of
complex processes to successfully implement the various constraints associated with project
management, which are basically time constraint, efficiency of a project and quality management
(Colomo et al., 2014). The management professionals should have certain attributes, which
makes them an expert of the domain (Kerzner , 2017).
Strong Communication Skills: A project manager should be good at communication. There are
a lot of important factors which are required to be informed to everybody ranging from employee
management to feedback that require strong oratory skills to effectively manage people
associated with the task (Zulch , 2019).
Leadership qualities: The most important factor a project manager should possess is leadership
skills. The qualities that define a great leader are the factors which include time management,
quick thinking, experience to handle complex situations and lead a group of people (Duboi et
al. , 2015). There are different aspects of the project that have constraints, employees sometimes
get demotivated and lack behind on several occasions, a good manager knows how to address all
these issues and effectively communicate with the team to keep them motivated to complete their
work within the assigned time frame (Tabassi et al. , 2019).
Strong Decision Making Skills: Project managers need to multitask, addressing a list of issues
together at the same time. Due to the time constraint and necessities of a project, it is often seen

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that a manager has to decide on a lot of issues simultaneously to meet the expectations of various
people associated with the project. This ability of a project manager to decide on things,
choosing the best possible outcome is often necessary while handling large-scale projects
(Hadad, Keren & Laslo , 2013).
Question 2
Project management is a vast domain, which require expertise, in order to, successfully
evaluate the various necessities required to complete a task. Companies hire project managers to
help them manage a task effectively, without any possible hindrance, which makes any project
work seamlessly.
Food waste is a global problem. Australia alone has an estimation that households throw
away AU$5.2 billion worth of food (AU$616 per household) each year (Reynolds et al. , 2014).
The entire wastage can be regulated through effective management and introduction of a
structured procedural system to counter the problem.
There are various methods applicable to be used for a better outcome of the project. Such
methods help to understand the impact of a global issue like decreasing the food waste in a
country.
Benefit-Cost-Ratio (BCR): This is a method that helps in establishing a connection between
relative cost with the benefits associated with any undertaken project. There are various
indicators that help with the understanding of costing and current value of a firm. BCR should
always be greater than 1 for a project for a positive flow of profit whereas if it is below 1, it
could incur a loss for the firm and result in loss over the net profit of the undertaken project. The
BCR for food waste management should be calculated to help the management with the

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investment necessary to provide the organization with profits associated with undertaking such
projects.
The amount of food required for waste management is huge, which requires a structured
plan, which will provide a lot of help to the underprivileged as well as conservation of basic
requirements for human to survive, which is food.
Net Present Value (NPV): The total profit of an organization varies with the amount of cash
that it incurs for a particular project. The Net Present Value can be defined as the total cash
inflow to the total value of cash outflow over a given period of time. This is used in budgeting
and planning for the analysis of a project and the amount of money required to capitalize on the
project for delivering a net profit value for the organization with the concerned project
(Zizlavsky , 2014).
The amount of money the organization can invest in food waste management is
successively conducted through the amount of money required to develop the necessary
infrastructures, which is an one time investment, while, once the process is established, it will be
able to eradicate lot of food wastage which occurs in the country at a rapid rate.
The entire framework for project approval has been done after an analysis of BCR and
NPV for the cost incurred with the amount of money required to complete the entire process. The
approval process constitutes of various procedures that an organization follows for approval of
an undertaken project. The implementation plans, cost planning, risk management are the factors
needed to weigh in by the organization to complete the approval procedure.
The entire project was a success because of the pre-evaluation of the entire procedure and
the methods used. The amount of waste food generated, various cost incurred in the entire

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process were evaluated prior to the starting of the project, which helped in successfully
delivering a positive outcome.
Reply
Yes, I completely agree with the fact that project management is a complex issue, which
require a lot of important details related to the project for an effective analysis and management
plan. There is a list of problems, which need to be managed by a project manager. The most
important abilities that a project manager must possess in various technical, business spheres
with traits including good thinking capabilities, leadership qualities based on the type of project
undertaken. With the advent of globalization, project management has also diversified across
various parts of the globe based on culture and customs of a specific place. Projects help in
bringing in people together from various spheres that promote a multi-cultural perspective based
on various language, ethnicity and preferences. The effective managers utilize their tools to have
a strong relationship with the entire team, which has a positive impact on their work. The
methods used in this project management are Benefit Measurement Methods which is based on
the cash flow in an organization and constrained optimization methods which, helps in providing
outcome for a large-scale project which require mathematical calculation. The project was a
failure based on the reports provided by the government organization, Sydney Waters on account
of not being able to reach acceptable standards, excessive cost and delays, inefficient customer
service, problems in the existing management structure because of which the project complexity
and significance was not measured effectively and was terminated due to ineffective risk
management.

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References
Colomo-Palacios, R., Casado-Lumbreras, C., Soto-Acosta, P., García-Peñalvo, F. J., & Tovar, E.
(2014). Project managers in global software development teams: a study of the effects on
productivity and performance. Software Quality Journal, 22(1), 3-19.
DuBois, M., Koch, J., Hanlon, J., Nyatuga, B., & Kerr, N. (2015). Leadership Styles of Effective
Project Managers: Techniques and Traits to Lead High Performance Teams. Journal of
Economic Development, Management, IT, Finance & Marketing, 7(1).
Hadad, Y., Keren, B., & Laslo, Z. (2013). A decision-making support system module for project
manager selection according to past performance. International Journal of Project
Management, 31(4), 532-541.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Reynolds, C. J., Mavrakis, V., Davison, S., Høj, S. B., Vlaholias, E., Sharp, A., ... & Boland, J.
(2014). Estimating informal household food waste in developed countries: The case of
Australia. Waste management & research, 32(12), 1254-1258.
Tabassi, A. A., Roufechaei, K. M., Ramli, M., Bakar, A. H. A., Ismail, R., & Pakir, A. H. K.
(2016). Leadership competences of sustainable construction project managers. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 124, 339-349.
Žižlavský, O. (2014). Net present value approach: method for economic assessment of
innovation projects. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 156, 506-512.

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Zulch, B. (2014). Leadership communication in project management. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 119, 172-181.